CCCC-Gold faced DCC in a T20 game this past Sunday in Cornerstone park, Denver.

CCCC-Gold won the toss and elected to field, DCC got off to bad start with a wicket falling on the second ball of the innings but Manjinder and Pranveer steadied the innings and played some good shots to get them going. CCCC-Gold kept picking wickets at the regular interval to stop the run flow. DCC finished their innings on 141/7 of their 20 overs thanks to some good shots by Sameer in the end. Sameer top scored for DCC with 31(24). Mike Riley was the pick of the bowlers for CCCC-Gold with figures of 4-0-21-2.

CCCC got off to a quick start in their chase of 141 before DCC picking three quick wickets to get ahead in the game. Praveen and Sandeep steadied the chase who was later joined by Suresh to keep the runs flowing. Once Sandeep got his eye in, played some wonderful shots to bring his second fifty of the season. Sandeep and Suresh finished the game in the 19th over. Sandeep was the pick of the batsmen for CCCC finishing on 71*(40). Harpreet singh was the pick of the bowlers for DCC with figures of 4-0-18-2.

The game started on time with CSCC winning the toss and electing to bat first. They started the innings a bit slowly with FRCC’s opening bowlers Rohit Saini and Subhashish Dash bowling some really good lines and lengths. Rohit removed Santosh for 5 off 12 balls. This brought Sandeep to the crease and Kervyn and Sandeep set about stabilizing the innings. They played out the opening bowlers and tried attacking the first and the second change bowlers in Kalyan and Shivraj. Abhinav and Shivraj stemmed the flow of runs before the break. After the break on his return spell Kalyan removed Sandeep being caught by Subhashish for 11 off 34. Narayan joined Kervyn after this. Kervyn was going strong on his way to 42 off 64. But in the next session Abhinav and Shrishailesh were brought in to slow the run rate a bit and build some pressure. It turned out to be a very good spell of play for FRCC as Shrishailesh removed Kervyn caught behind by Manohar for 42 off 64. He removed Hamayun trapped in front of the stumps off the very next ball for a golden duck for what looked like a dubious decision by the umpire. Next in Anil played out the hat trick ball but did not survive the over as he lobbed the last ball to short mid off Afshin for 0 off 3. This over rocked CSCC’s innings as they were reduced from 79-2 to 79-5. The bowlers did a very good job in not letting the pressure slip away as FRCC’s captain set some very attacking fields. Abhinav removed the next in Abhay Natu being stumped by Manohar for 0 off 4. Narayan who was trying to guide the innings through but was trapped in front of the stumps by Shrishailesh for 11 off 33 off ht last ball before the second break with CSCC at 90-7. Abhinav post the break finished his 8 overs and removed Prasanna and Siva Kumar off successive balls for 12 for 20 and a golden duck respectively with Manohar stumping Prasanna and Afshin catching Siva’s catch. Rohit finished the innings off as he cleaned up Rajadurai off a slower one for a duck off 6 balls to finish the CSCC innings for 105 off 32.4 overs. Kervyn Dimney top scored with 42 runs and Shrishailesh was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 7-2-16-4. Rohit Saini picked 2 wickets and Abhinav was impressive with figures of 8-1-18-3.

In response, Sumeet and Abhinav came out to bat as they looked to chase the measly total down without much fuss, but it wasn’t to be as Abhinav was caught by Rajadurai for 1 off 11 off Abhay Natu’s bowling. The next in Sanket Sharma did not trouble the scorers as he departed for 0 off 7 balls as he unfortunately edged a ball down the leg side to the keeper in an attempt to flick it fine. This brought Rajeshkumar Jha to the crease to partner Sumeet as they set about rebuilding the innings slowly. Rajesh survived the initial spell and started scoring a bit freely along with Sumeet rotating the strike well and hitting the odd boundary in between. But just as it seemed like they will take the innings to the finish line, Rajeshkumar lost his wicket to a run out as he did failed to recognize Prasanna’s strong throwing arm for 12 off 18 with FRCC’s score at 41-3. This brought FRCC’s captain Sumeet and vice-captain Rohit Saini together to the crease as they comfortably kept the scoreboard ticking over taking the score to 77-3. CSCC played their last ace as they brought back Prasanna for one last spell to wrestle back some control in the game. Prasanna duly delivered as he removed Rohit Saini as Rohit inside edged a delivery which he was trying to leave onto the stumps for a steady 12 off 37. This wicket prompted a slide of wickets thanks to some fiery bowling by Prasanna and some bad decisions by the umpires as Manohar (0 off 3), Subhashish (2 off 10) and Afshin (0 off 6) were given LBW by the umpires off which Manohar got hit on his thigh and Subhashish and Afshin claimed to have edged the ball. At the other end through all this Sumeet kept going from strength to strength as he paced his innings beautifully to score an unbeaten 65 off 87 balls to guide FRCC over the line along with Shivraj Barik who ably supported him at the end with an unbeaten 6 off 16. Prasanna was the pick of the bowlers for CSCC with impressive figures of 8-0-29-3 while Abhay took 2 wickets and Hamayun took 1.

Man of the Match: Sumeet Khule for his nerveless batting performance of 65 off 87 unbeaten in FRCC innings in their successful run chase with 6 glorious boundaries and 2 sixes.

LCC hosted RCC on a day that had everyone guessing whether the match will be completed or not. The weather forecasted rain and thunderstorms midway through the match and both teams wanted to get going and complete a full match. LCC won the toss and elected to bat first. LCC were ready to put up a bigger total than 105 in their previous match but the cricket gods had another plan up their sleeves.

LCC opened with their usual danger pair of Dhiren and Dharam Patel. Although the Danger pair today weren’t dangerous at all and after the 4th over both openers were gone with only 9 runs on the board. RCC were on cloud 9 after getting Dhiren out, almost a similar celebration to winning the World Cup. With more batting to come LCC weren’t too fazed. Rezwan and Sakthi stabilized but after a short cameo Rezwan got out and then shortly after Sakthi also departed. The only resistance from LCC came from Bodhayan and Raj who scored 18 and 14 respectively. LCC’s innings was abysmal, like the weather. LCC were all out in 34th over with only 98 on the board.
RCC’s pick of the bowlers was Abhiram with figures of 7.2-1-18-4, Srikanth picked up 2 wickets and Adarsh, Ben, Vikrant, and Vikas all got one wicket each. RCC bowlers did very well to keep LCC below 100, but LCC had hope as they recently defended 105, two weeks back.

RCC opened with Adarsh and Vikesh and Jay gave LCC the best start possible and got Adarsh out on the last ball of the first over. Vikesh hit a couple good blows but Rezwan was introduced into the attack and picked Vikesh up in the 8th over with 20 runs on the board. RCC came out in a defensive mindset, sending Satish (8 runs off 46 balls) up the order to just play out the bowlers was probably the best thing for LCC, as the dots started to build the batsmen at the other end started feeling the heat. As the weather started to get better so did LCC’s chances of winning. Abhijit left without contributing and just after the break Jay got the breakthrough of Abhiram with Satish still eating up deliveries at the other end. Benjamin joined Satish and after trying and failing to clear the ropes a few times off Raj’s bowling he was given a gift, a slow full toss which, unfortunately for him landed straight into Dharam’s hands. Satish’s extremely long and painstaking vigil came to an end when he scooped one straight to Bodha. The RCC captain, Vikrant, came out and decided that he would have to be the one to get his team across as they were now. Vikrant and Srikanth batted very well together and at one point looked to take the match away from LCC. In the 33rd over was when things started to get interesting again. Srikanth looped a ball to long off and RCC suddenly looked like they were in trouble with only 74 runs on the board. LCC captain, Dharam, had to manage his bowlers for the rest of the innings if LCC wanted to pull off another crazy victory. Raj was bowled out, Rezwan left the field with an injury, and Dhruv and Bodha weren’t as troubling as usual. With his strike bowlers Dhiren and Jay having 2 overs each left, they knew that they needed to grab the last 3 wickets. Dhiren was introduced and took a wicket of the last ball of his 7th over. RCC were 88/8. Jay responded from the other end with a very quiet over giving only 2 runs. RCC were 90/8 with 5 overs to go and needing only 9 runs for victory. Dharam had trust in his young leg spinner and brought on Bhavya to possibly entice the batsmen to play a rash shot, and although he didn’t take a wicket, Bhavya only gave up 2 runs. RCC now needed 7 runs in 4 overs. Dhiren back in for his last over and with the first ball of the over he got Kaushik, bowled. LCC were charged up and needed 1 wicket for another brilliant victory. Vikas saw off Dhiren’s over and added 1 run to the tally. RCC now needed 6 runs in 3 overs, but with one wicket left it seemed difficult especially with the way the LCC bowlers were bowling today. Jay having 1 over left, was brought back and bowled an exceptional maiden over, but Vikas also should be given credit as he didn’t lose his cool and played Jay’s over out without any damage. Still needing 6 runs in 2 overs with all the strike bowlers bowled out, Bhavya was brought on to bowl the 39th over and RCC Captain must have felt that Victory should be theirs. But the first ball bowled was a perfect delivery for a leg spinner, drawing the batsman out for a forward defense and the ball jumped catching the gloves and a brilliant catch at first slip to seal the deal!

LCC pulled it off again! A phenomenal bowling performance from the defending Champions. Vikrant ended up with 34 runs and almost carried his team across the line. LCC bowling was just incredible, Bhavya and Dhruv picked up 1 wicket each; Rezwan was very economical in his 7 overs with figures of 7-2-11-1; but the LCC strike bowlers were the true heroes today. Raj bowled 8 overs on the trot with figures of 8-1-18-2, Dhiren’s figures were 8-2-18-3, but the best bowling performance came from Jay Pathak with figures of 8-3-9-2!

Another fantastic cricket match played in good spirits!

Man of the Match: Raj Chitikila for his contribution with the bat scoring 14 runs but more importantly for his incredible 8 over spell which equated to the figures of 8-1-18-2.

On Sat June 23rd CSCC hosted FRCC at Memorial Park. CSCC won the toss and elected to bat first. CSCC openers started cautiously as FRCC bowlers were on target early on. In the 4th over FRCC got the first breakthrough when Rohit got Santosh edged to the wicketkeeper. With Kervyn digging in at one end, CSCC started to rebuild. With the score at 79 for 2, Shrishailesh Chari bowled an over that changed the game. He got three wickets in the 22nd over accounting for Kervyn, Hamayun, and Anil’s wicket. CSCC never really recovered after that over and folded for 105 in 32.4 overs. For CSCC Kervyn Dimney top scored with a well-made 42 off 64 balls with 4 boundaries. For FRCC, Srishailesh Chari picked up 4 wickets, Abhinav 3 wickets, Rohit Saini 2 wickets, and Kalyan chipped in with 1 wicket.

In response, FRCC opened batting with Sumeet and Abhinav. Both the CSCC new ball bowlers, Prassana and Abhay, bowled brilliantly and gave no easy runs. In the 4th over of the innings, Abhay struck as he got Abhinav to sky one to short mid-wicket, who took a good juggling catch. Abhay struck again in the 6th over as he got Sanket to nick one to the keeper. With the score at 10/2 in the 6th over, CSCC started to believe in defending the low total. Sumeet had other ideas as he defended the good balls with immaculate defence, while putting the bad ones away with disdain. CSCC continued to get wickets at regular intervals at the other end. With the score 89/7, CSCC was still in with a chance. Shivraj joined Sumeet for the 8th wicket and played sensibly seeing FRCC over the line in the 33rd over. Summet remained not out with 65 off 87 with 6 boundaires and 2 sixes. For CSCC, Prassana picked up 3 wickets, Abhay 2 wickets, and Hamayun 1 wicket.

Man of the Match: Sumeet Khule for his superb innings of 65 off 87 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes.